"The personal attention that I receive at HPU is unlike any other. Through small classes I have been able to establish life-long relationships with my professors. No matter if you're in a class with 25 students or a class with just 7 students, the professors ensure your success."

Joe joined the High Point University faculty in 2011, and he serves as both the Robert G. Culp Jr. Director of Service Learning and a tenure-track faculty member in the Religion and Philosophy Department. He specializes in the ethical implications of Christian theological positions and liberal economic theory, and he has presented his work at conferences like the American Academy of Religion, the Society of Christian Ethics, the History of Economics Society, the Southwest Social Science Association, and the Comparative and International Education Society. His most recent chapter, “Christian Freedom in Political Economy,” appeared in the Routledge Press book Adam Smith as Theologian.He also recently published the articles “Beyond Moral Development: Re-Theorizing Ethical Practices in Service Learning” in The Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory 12.2 (Fall 2012): 196-214 and “Can God or the Market Set People Free?: Libertarian, Egalitarian, and Ethical Freedom,” Journal of Religious Ethics, 41.2 (June 2013): 233-53. Three additional articles are forthcoming: “Opportunities after Babel: Forming Christian Personality Through Faith at Work” in the International Journal of Practical Theology, “Democracy USA: Engaging Students in Class, Across the County, and Around the Globe,” with Carol Davis, Greg Sensale, Ben Turner, and Sarah Martin (three undergraduates) in Partnerships, and “Natural Law Economics: Reading a Theological Economics,” symposium proceedings from the History of Economics Society meeting, in the Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology. His future work will continue to explore Christian and modern economic approaches to ethical issues like poverty, labor unions, and business ethics. He is especially interested in service learning pedagogies that connect his theoretical concerns to the practical needs of the community.

As the Robert G. Culp Jr. Director of Service Learning, Dr. Blosser helps faculty develop courses that teach moral thinking and civic responsibility through community engagement. He furthers HPU’s commitment to experiential and interdisciplinary education by weaving students into the High Point community where they can learn moral thinking and develop moral character by imitating and critically engaging the models set by our many civic leaders.

Dr. Blosser is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Texas Christian University with a B.S. in Economics and Religion. He graduated from Vanderbilt Divinity School with an M.Div. and is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He received his Ph.D. in Religious Ethics from the University of Chicago. Dr. Blosser taught at DePaul University for three years before coming to HPU

Cara completed her BA in liberal arts at Evergreen State College (Olympia, WA), her MA in English at Portland State University (Portland, Oregon), and her Ph.D. in rhetoric and composition at Wayne State University (Detroit, MI). Much of her research and teaching includes service learning, critical pedagogy, and globalization studies. Her dissertation, “Thinking Globally, Writing Locally: Re-Visioning Critical and Service Learning Pedagogies with Globalization Theory,” uses ethnographic and teacher-research methods to investigate how integrating globalization theory into a combined critical and service learning pedagogy affects student engagement and student resistance. She examines the scholarly debates on critical and service learning pedagogies and works to address the critiques that have arisen within the field. Scholars have clearly and effectively discussed the contradictions and limitations of these pedagogical approaches, but only a few have begun describing what alternative approaches might look like in practice. Therefore, my project is working to fill a gap in contemporary composition scholarship and will offer a significant contribution to composition studies.

Within her service learning courses, students either participate in a community literacy project working with elementary school students at Maybury Elementary School in Southwest Detroit, or with various projects at a local non-profit, Latino Family Services. For the past two semesters, she has asked students to design final projects in conjunction with their organization that serve a specific purpose or fulfill a need. The students have pursued a wide array of projects: developing a journal for the Hispanic community discussing local and national social and political issues; creating a documentary video with a group of Latino high school students; developing pamphlets with articles concerning health issues such as asthma and type two diabetes and detailing the places where people can go for low-cost health services; designing and implementing a book project with elementary school students detailing how to write a strong essay for the state Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) exam; and creating a summer literacy program with reading and writing activities for children at home while they are out of school. Some of her students’ projects have been printed and distributed within the community, and others are electronically available on the Internet.

Anna is a native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She graduated from High Point University in December 2012 with degrees in Religion and Sociology. She received Honors for her Religion Senior Thesis work on “Becoming More Religious: The Religious Experiences of First Generation Hindu Indian Women in the United States.” A version of that paper will be published in the Journal of Theta Alpha Kappa in Spring 2014.

During her time at HPU, Ms. Mahathey was a tutor of Spanish and Religion, a Writing Consultant in the Writing Center, and a member of Spanish Club, Theta Alpha Kappa Religious Honors Society, Alpha Chi Honors Society, Alpha Kappa Delta Honors Society of Sociology, and Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. She was also highly involved in service organizations outside the university, where her heart and passion for working with other people lies. It is that passion for service that ultimately lead Ms. Mahathey back to HPU to serve as an AmeriCorps VISTA in partnership with West End Ministries.

Dr. Leslie Cavendish came to High Point University in 2011. Dr. Cavendish has a M.A. in Developmental Reading and earned her Ph.D. in Language, Literacy and Culture from the University of Iowa. She taught literacy courses for 5 years at the University of Iowa in the Teaching and Learning Department and has enjoyed teaching both undergraduate and graduate level courses at High Point University forthe past two years. She strives to support High Point preservice teachers opportunities to teach students who need additional support in their literacy development. She collaborates closely with Montlieu Elementary School in organizing book buddies and reading tutors for the children identified as needing additional support. Dr. Cavendish also organizes a community Literacy Night celebration for all the parents and students at Montlieu Elementary School every fall.

Lou Anne Flanders-Stec
Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship
Assistant Professor of Business Administrationlfander@highpoint.edu

Lou Anne Flanders-Stec earned her B.A. from Ouachita Baptist University and her M.B.A. from University of North Texas. Flanders-Stec is responsible for teaching various courses on entrepreneurship, as well as developing programs to encourage entrepreneurship and help student entrepreneurs build and grow their businesses. “I am excited to be a part of High Point University,” Flanders-Stec says. “I especially look forward to working with students on their business plans and helping them realize reach their goals of business ownership.” Flanders-Stec has more than 20 years of experience in the financial management and early-stage venture capital arenas, working with many early-stage companies. She previously worked for Piedmont Angel Network and the United Way of Greensboro.

Dr. Hall earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics at Georgia State University and his B.S. in Economics at Georgia State College and State University. Dr. Daniel Hall, Assistant Professor of Economics, joined HPU in 2010 and brought with him a tech-savvy skill set that has added innovative techniques and teaching methodologies to the classroom. He and Dr. Stephanie Crofton have received grants from the HPU Think Big Program, the Koch Foundation, and the BB&T Free Enterprise and Capitalism Program supporting their project to create iPad apps that help teach economic principles using market experiments. These apps have been created in a joint venture with Prof. Roger Shore and a team of HPU computer science major students! The apps are just one component of Dr. Hall’s unique teaching methods which also include various games and competitions.

Dr. Stacy Lipowski was hired in 2011. She specializes in cognitive and developmental psychology, and is currently conducting research on long-term retention, including using testing as a study tool rather than just an assessment and finding ways to improve memory monitoring in young children. Lipowski earned a Bachelor of Arts from Mount Union College and a Master of Arts and Doctorate from Kent State University.

Sadie Leder joined the High Point University family in the Fall 2010. In addition to working as the Assistant Director of High Point University’s Survey Research Center, she is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department. Dr. Leder is originally from Whiteville, North Carolina and earned a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After completing her M.A. in Experimental Psychology at Wake Forest University, Dr. Leder earned her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University at Buffalo, SUNY.

Dr. Erica Zuhr
Assistant Professor of Mathematicsezuhr@highpoint.edu
B.S. University of North Carolina
M.S. & Ph.D. University of Florida

Rev. Preston Davis is the Minister to High Point University and a Provisional Elder in the United Methodist Church (UMC) in the Western Conference of North Carolina. He leads the weekly worship services, teaches the Chapel Worship course, oversees programming out of the Chapel Office, and is passionate about helping people of all religious backgrounds discover the depths of faith, hope and love in their own lives and stories.

Prior to coming to High Point in the summer of 2013, Rev. Davis served for two years as Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Bessemer City, NC. While in Bessemer City he chaired the city’s Ministerial Alliance and represented local clergy on the Small Town Main Street Downtown Development team.

Rev. Davis received his Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he studied in the fields of Social Ethics and Systematic Theology. Rev. Davis was the recipient of the Julius Thomas Hansen Memorial Award, awarded to a graduating student planning to enter the Christian ministry who has demonstrated special ability in relating philosophy, theology, and ethics to problems in contemporary society.

The Service Learning Program employs a team of students as community liaisons each semester. These students coordinate the logistics of volunteer times, travel, and project assignment for students in the service learning courses. The Service Learning Program has also had the great fortune of working with graduate students in the Nonprofit Management Program and the Strategic Communications Program.